It’s Eagle season along the Hudson River and February 8th marks the 10th anniversary of the Teatown Lake Reservation’s annual Eagle Fest, a day-long celebration at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. The event features lots of fun, family activities including bird identification, raptor demonstrations, hands-on activities, storytelling, hikes and more. In addition to the day’s programming at Croton Point Park there are eagle-viewing sites at various locations along the river–as far south as Sleepy Hollow and as far north and west as Garrison and Bear Mountain. At each of these locations, eagle-experts from local audubons and nature centers will be on hand with viewing scopes and information about the majestic birds.
It was another blustery, winter morning in the outdoors for Kids Unplugged the day we headed to George’s Island Park. This park has special significance for us as it was the site of one of our earliest hikes and this time we visited for a hike and some eagle viewing with the folks from the Saw Mill River Audubon. The helpful volunteers were there with scopes and other viewing apparati to assist us in spotting eagles soaring above the river and roosting in the trees along its shore.
There are varying perspectives from biologists about whether or not to call eagles “migratory.” Eagles tend to travel southward from their home breeding grounds in Canada when those habitats become less hospitable during the late fall and early winter, however, depending on the severity of the winter the birds don’t follow the same routes year after year. There are several places in New York that are significant over-wintering areas for eagles–the St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain, and the Hudson River–making those areas prime for observing these incredible raptors.
We were very fortunate on this cold February morning as the eagles were in abundance around George’s Island today. A great group of families arrived for today’s event, bundled up and enthusiastic. We started out along the shore with the Audubon folks catching glimpses of the eagles perched in nearby trees before having a hot cocoa in the Teatown tent and heading out on one of the park’s trails. The white blazed trail took us through the snowy woods and while we couldn’t see any eagles along the trail, there were plenty of diversions–ice for thwacking and sliding, animal tracks to ponder, sticks to gather, and boulders to climb.
Because the trail was not a loop, we hiked in for a while before turning around to leave some time to head down to one of the Hudson’s little beaches to look for the sea glass found so and do some more eagle spotting. We scooted down a little ravine to the beach and while there was a shortage of sea glass the small inlet was covered with thick swaths of ice that had accumulated on the shore.The kids spent the time trying to break up the sheets with rocks, throwing broken pieces into the water, and collecting oyster shells. The parents joined in the fun too, and I watched as one dad hoisted a large sheet of ice and tossed it into the river with a crash.
All this time, the eagles soared above the river, the wind blew in gusts across the icy water, and the everyone had a great time. And a second visit to the cocoa tent at the end didn’t hurt either!
This year’s Eagle Fest will be held on Saturday, February 8th at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, New York and events will take place from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Visit Teatown’s official Eagle Fest page for a schedule of the day’s activities and events, transportation information, and eagle viewing locations. In the event of snow, Eagle Fest will take place on Sunday, February 9th.
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